THE ITEM:

EDMUND DULAC

Edmund Dulac (born Edmond Dulac; October 22, 1882 – May 25, 1953) was a French-born, British naturalised magazine illustrator, book illustrator and stamp designer. Born in Toulouse he studied law but later turned to the study of art the École des Beaux-Arts. He moved to London early in the 20th century and in 1905 received his first commission to illustrate the novels of the Brontë Sisters. During World War I, Dulac produced relief books and when after the war the deluxe children's book market shrank he turned to magazine illustrations among other ventures. He designed banknotes during World War II and postage stamps, most notably those that heralded the beginning of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

Born in Toulouse, France, he began his career by studying law at the University of Toulouse. He also studied art, switching to it full-time after he became bored with law, and having won prizes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He spent a very brief period at the Académie Julian in Paris in 1904 before moving to London.

Settling in London's Holland Park, the 22-year-old Frenchman was commissioned by the publisher J.M. Dent to illustrate Jane Eyre. and 9 other volumes of works by the Brontë sisters. He then became a regular contributor to the Pall Mall magazine, and joined the London Sketch Club, which introduced him to the foremost book and magazine illustrators of the day. Through these he began an association with the Leicester Gallery and Hodder & Stoughton; the gallery commissioned illustrations from Dulac which they sold in an annual exhibition, while publishing rights to the paintings were taken up by Hodder & Stoughton for reproduction in illustrated gift books, publishing one book a year. Books produced under this arrangement by Dulac include Stories from The Arabian Nights (1907) with 50 colour images; an edition of William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1908) with 40 colour illustrations; The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1909) with 20 colour images; The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales (1910); Stories from Hans Christian Andersen (1911); The Bells and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe (1912) with 28 colour images and many monotone illustrations; and Princess Badoura (1913).

Dulac became a naturalized British citizen on 17 February 1912.

During World War I he contributed to relief books, including King Albert's Book (1914), Princess Mary's Gift Book, and, unusually, his own Edmund Dulac's Picture-Book for the French Red Cross (1915) including 20 colour images. Hodder and Stoughton also published The Dreamer of Dreams (1915) including 6 colour images - a work composed by the then Queen of Romania.

After the war, the deluxe edition illustrated book became a rarity and Dulac's career in this field was over. His last such books were Edmund Dulac's Fairy Book (1916), the Tanglewood Tales (1918) (including 14 colour images) and the The Kingdom of the Pearl (1920). His career continued in other areas however, including newspaper caricatures (especially at The Outlook), portraiture, theatre costume and set design, bookplates, chocolate boxes, medals, and various graphics (especially for The Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate).

He also produced illustrations for The American Weekly, a Sunday supplement belonging to the Hearst newspaper chain in America and Britain's Country Life. Country Life Limited (London) published Gods and Mortals in Love (1935) (including 9 colour images) based on a number of the contributions made by Dulac to Country Life previously. The Daughter of the Stars (1939) was a further publication to benefit from Dulac's artwork - due to constraints related to the outbreak of World War II, that title included just 2 colour images. He continued to produce books for the rest of his life, more so than any of his contemporaries, although these were less frequent and less lavish than during the Golden Age.

Halfway through his final book commission (Milton's Comus), Dulac died of a heart attack on 25 May 1953 in London.

(WIKIPEDIA)

-------------------------

COLOPHON:

EDITED BY:

DAVID LARKIN

INTRODUCTION BY:

BRIAN SANDERS

PRINTED IN ITALY BY:

MONDADORI

VERONA

THE PUBLISHER:

A PEACOCK PRESS / BANTAM BOOK

THE YEAR:

1975

-----------------------------------------------

SIZED:

CENTIMETERS: 22 X 29,5

PAGES: NOT NUMBERED

------------------------------------------------------

CONDITION

GENERAL:

REASONABLE TO GOOD

COVER:

BIT RUBBED, DIRTY AND DISCOLOURED, SOME LIGHT BUMPS AND BENDS, SOME UNDEEP SCRATCHES

SPINE:

IDEM

PAGES: 

LIGHTLY DISCOLOURED, HARDLY TO NO SIGNS OF USAGE

----------------------

A T T E N T I O N

YES, WE DO SHIP WORLDWIDE

BUT AS POST-NL HAS DIFFERENT RATES FOR VARIOUS COUNTRIES WE CAN’T INCLUDE THE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPINGCOSTS IN THE LISTING

WE WILL BE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU A QUOTATION OR YOU CAN CHECK FOR YOURSELF AT:

https://www.postnl.nl/tarieven

AFTER PURCHASE WE WILL SEND YOU AN INVOICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE INCLUDING THE SHIPPINGCOSTS FOR YOUR COUNTRY



*************************************************

“… NB: In line with international legislation, the way in which your post is sent to addresses outside of the Netherlands is changing. From 2020 onwards, goods may no longer be franked in the same way as letters. You can frank this type of shipment as a parcel without Track & Trace. Other countries also require that we share information about the content with them digitally in advance …”

 

***********************************************